BRIGHTON — Prairie View made a big change between the first and second quarters of its girls basketball game against Columbine Thursday night. And Jade Morton was right in the middle.
She scored six of her 13 points in the second quarter as the T-Hawks turned back Columbine 59-35 in the season opener for both schools.

Photos by Steve Smith

Prairie View’s Jordan Wilson finishes up an effort to save the ball from going out of bounds Thursday night against Columbine. She scored a team-high 15 points in the T-Hawks’ win.

Columbine had a one-point lead after the first quarter, but the ThunderHawks erased that deficit and then some. PVHS’ lead grew to 10 points late in the second quarter before the Rebels closed the gap to five. But they couldn’t get any closer during the second half.
“We started in a man defense,” PVHS coach Rachel Parker said. “They pulled that out and beat us on a lot of cuts. So we stayed in a 2-3 zone. We talked about how they have to communicate with their teammates. They were jabbering all over the court.”
“We realized what we were doing wrong, and we corrected it,” Morton said. “We made minor adjustments, started talking a little more. We weren’t communicating. We had to figure out how to adjust to their big girl (6-foot-2-inch Mia Carter, who scored 10 points, most of which came in garbage time). We boxed out, and she didn’t get a rebound.”
Parker and Morton agreed it was a big win but for different reasons.
“It’s a big win. We’re starting off the season extremely strong,” Morton said. “We have an older group of girls. We’re excited we got the win.”
Parker’s lineup is deeper than it has been in other years.
“It’s different,” Morton said. “There’s always set plays and set people, set leaders. You learn to find your groove and step up. Mine is more of a talkative role, but I support all the girls. I’m taking more of a leadership role. I feel like I should step it up.”
Parker said winning non-conference games is a key.
“Any time you can beat a team outside the EMAC (Eastern Metro Athletic Conference), people see that and notice,” Parker said. “It’s significant. That helps us when we look state playoffs.”
Three ThunderHawks wound up in double figures. Jordan Wilson led the charge with 15 points. Cierra Mendoza was next with 14, and Jade Morton tossed in 13.
“Three of them in double digits. That’s unusual for us,” Parker said. “All the time, it’s been Jordan scoring. So it’s nice to be able to have more than one.”
PVHS visits Bear Creek at 7 p.m. Friday.
Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith at
ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com.